Learning to Trust Your Emotions

We are all born with a certain amount of intuition. From a very young age, the problem is that we are often told to ignore our emotions or that our feelings are just wrong. Much like force-feeding an infant can cause the child to ignore their natural hunger control mechanism, it is the same with emotions.

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You Get a Feeling in Your Gut That Something Is Wrong

Everyone has a natural ability to know if something is not right in any given situation. The problem is, over time, you may have pushed down those emotions as wrong or even absurd. 

You meet a new person, and you feel like something is off for no known reason. You talk to someone and believe they are lying.

While you may not want to react to these instances that aren’t cause for immediate danger, keep an open mind and keep your eyes open. You’ll find out that you’re right more than you’re wrong.

The Hairs on the Back of Your Neck Stand Up

Every human is born with a “flight or fight” reaction. Sometimes the hairs on the back of your neck will stand up, or you get prickly and feel like running. Most of the time, you should pay attention to this feeling. 

Often, you’ll find that when you think that way, a spider is nearby, or you are in grave danger. Do not ignore these nagging feelings, ever.

Even if you’re wrong, it’s best to be safe.

You sense the need to help someone

T.V. commercials use these emotions when they want you to send money to save the starving child in Africa or donate to save abused animals. When watching those commercials, the emotion you feel is typical, and you should respect them.

Please don’t push it down when you feel compelled to help people. Freely offer help because denying your feelings about this will cause you to feel bad about yourself.

You Feel Pulled to Do Something Different

You’re sitting in your cubicle, bored to tears wanting desperately to do something different, but you are afraid to change.

If you feel pulled in a new direction, take the time to give it real consideration instead of nixing it immediately.

Bill Gates didn’t allow nagging doubt to stop him from becoming so successful.

You Feel Confident in Your Abilities

When you are feeling confident, don’t push those feelings down. You have a right to feel good about what you are doing and to feel capable. When you feel good about yourself, it’s not misplaced pride or bragging. 

So often, people (especially women) are taught not to boast about their abilities from a young age, and this puts young women at a disadvantage from their male counterparts when it comes to jobs or equitable pay.

Allow yourself to feel confident when it’s appropriate.

Forge a safe refuge

Emotions need a safe environment to be felt fully. You’re your own best friend, and only you can create the right environment that is safe for you to handle your emotions. Is your home secure for yourself and a safe place for your entire family? 

As Dr. Phil says, the home should be a safe place to fall.

Acknowledge the Different Emotions You Experience

Don’t push away your emotions about drugs, alcohol or food. Instead, allow yourself to experience a full range of emotions as appropriate. 

Of course, you do have to show some measure of decency in public to express suitable emotions in proper places as they come to you.

Unfortunately, Will Smith outburst and display of anger didn’t grasp this concept at the 2022 Oscars.

Try to Name the Emotions Others Are Having

To improve your capacity for empathy, practice naming and expressing the sentiments that other people are having. 

People who can show great compassion to others, even if they haven’t gone through the situation themselves, have much happier lives than those who cannot relate to other human beings at all.

You don’t have to be homeless to understand how genuinely demoralising this experience is.

Write Down Your Feelings

Keep a feeling journal to help you process different emotions you are having and different feelings that you note other people have about those situations in life. 

Your journal can help you work healthily through those emotions and give you something to look back at when you have encountered a crisis.

Test Your Judgment Accuracy and Go for It

If you are afraid to go with your gut instinct, having pushed down that skill from a young age, pick one thing to test. 

For example, if you need to switch jobs, start job hunting in earnest. It won’t hurt to go on some job interviews to test your intuition, and you might find the position of a lifetime.

If you feel strange, such as running from a situation, go ahead and do it.

As you learn to trust yourself, you may experience some self-doubt, but you’ll better discern between what’s right and wrong by acknowledging those feelings. However, you must be willing to be vulnerable to succeed.

The thoughts, emotions, and experiences you may have spent years guarding yourself against don’t seem nearly as threatening.

    Tony

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